Panic-release doorlock



Dec. 26, 1933. RADKE. ET AL 1,941,225

PANIC RELEASE DOORLOCK Filed Deo. l5. 1931 5am nel Sfida/u MORNEY Patented Dee. 26, 1933 l '1.941.225 j PANIC-RELEASE DOORLOCK Gottlieb Radk'e end smfuei schlau, New York, N. Y., assignors to Safe-T-Loek Co., New York Application December 15, 1931 Serial No. 581,096

'1 claim. (ci. 292-37) This inventionA relates to panic bolty mechanisms such as are employed for the exit doors of theaters, schools, and other places of public assembly. v v

One of the objects of the invention is to'pro-` vide a panic release door lock, including a plu-V rality of locking bolts and a pivotally mounted releaseV bar for manual operation, which shall have the advantages of simple and inexpensive construction and reliable operation and which atthe same time may be positively released on` swinging of said release bar in either direction.

Another object is tovprovide a panic release door lock as just stated, whereinalthough swing'- ing of the release bar retracts all bolts simultaneously, a forcing of one bolt to retracted position, as by the use of a jimmy or the like in the hands of a person seeking surreptitiously to enter the premises, willnot retract the plurality of bolts. The invention will be more clearly understood and the foregoing and other objects and advantages thereof kfully appreciated from the following description of an embodiment of the invention as now preferred and as illustrated and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. lis a view showing said embodiment Vin side elevation and showing the carrying door'in edge elevation;

- Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on theline 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken substantially` on the line 31-3`of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4. is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line '4-4 of Fig. `3, with certain of the parts shown in top plan; e Y

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view 'showing certain parts ofFig. 2 rearranged to -retract both bolts; and f Fig. 6 shows in perspective on a somewhat reduced scale one of the parts of Fig. 5'.

' Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, the lock shown includes a plurality of oppositely extending bolts 10, these running up and down a swing door 12. Said bolts are guided ynear their outer ends by brackets 14 carrying collars 14a, and near their inner ends by sleeved extensions 15' of a casing 15.

When the door is closed, as shown in Fig. 1, the outer ends of the bolts entersuitable keepers 16 in the top and bottom sills of the door fram-v g. n Each bolt is shown in the present case as including along tube 10a and a portion of a device forming part of the mechanism for simultaneously retracting both bolts for emergency door release as hereinafter described.y Said portion of vsaid device includes a rod 18 extended into its tube 10a to the extent permitted bya collar 18' on the 60' rod; the rod then being riveted to its tube as in- -dicatedat 19. Beyond their collars 18', therods 18 extend toward each other and into the interior of casing 15 through circular openings in the top and bottom walls of said casing concentric with 05 the bores of the sleeve extensions 15 of the casing. Between the annular inner ends of said sleeve extensionsandV said collars are expansile coil springs 2K0 tending always to project the bolts to maximum extension as shown in Fig. 1.

yThe portions of the rods 18V which are disposed n casing 15 are extended to overlap each other thereby to provide on each bolt intermediate the ends of the other bolts a crosspiece 18a o-r 18A.= Thus the crosspiece 18a, carried bythe upperA bolt, is always lowermost: and the crosspiece 18A, carried by the lower bolt, isalways uppermost. Thesecrosspieces, however, are connected .with their bolts in such manner as' always to provide room for a rocker bar or cam 21 either to lie flatwise between them as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; or to be rotated between them through a full 90"-V angle, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6,l in either direction. For ruggedness, yet light weight, the crosspieces are connected to their bolts by being formed as parts of stirrup shaped yokes as will be seen best from Fig. 5. For compactnesatheseA yokes are oppositely stepped'sov as to lie in parallel planes on opposite sides of the center line of a bolt. as'shown in Figs. 3 and 4. For con- 90 venience in assembling, the casing 15 is made in Y two halves fromA the top of the casing at the upper end of the upper sleeve extensionv 15 to the bottom of thecasing at the'lower end of the lower sleeve extension 15. The line of split of the cas- 95` ing, in substantially the same plane as the plane Y of separation between the two yokes, is vseen best in Fig. 4; the two casing halves being secured together in any suitableway, as by screws sent through the easing half to the right in Fig. 3 into 100 the tapped holes 15b (Fig. 2) in the other casing half.

When the casing is thus closed following assembly of the parts therein as above described,

the cam 21 is loosely restrained between the two 105 side Walls of the casing but nevertheless extends through both yokes.

Said cam 21 is carried by a .short shaft 21', journaled in an annular boss 15" formedV exteriorly of the casing half to the right in Fig. 3; 1-10 this shaft having a squared end beyond said boss.

The casing 15 is secured to the door 12 in any suitable way, as by screws or the like. In the present case, such screws are shown as sent through baseplates 15a, each formed as a unitary side wing on a casing half.

Extending across the entire width of the door is a release or swing bar 22 having short parallelly offset terminal portions 22a and 22o the former of which has a square hole at its door adjacent end for taking the squared end of cam shaft 21 and the latter of which is attened to a disc to it within a bifurcation 23 standing out from a bracket 23 screwed or otherwise suitably secured to the door. A rivet 24 pivotally mo-unts said'disc in said bifurcation on an axis of rotation aligned with that of cam shaft 21'. The portion 22a of the swing bar Vis here shown as additionally secured to said cam shaft by a washer 25 heldin place by a screw 26.

` Operation Normally the parts are arranged as shown in Figs. 1 to 4.

The cam 21 is horizontally held in that position impositively by the action of the springs 20 which act to draw the crosspieces 18a and 18A as closely together as possible. vThe crosspieces are now flat against the opposite flat sides of the horizontally extended cam; and both bolts vare extended to locking. position.

On closing the door, both bolts latch individually into their keepers 16, either simultaneously or one after the other, depending on the locations of the keepers relative to their bolts; it being noted that retraction oi either boltY against its spring is independent of a similar movement of the other bolt and is lalso independent of any movement of the cam.

Viith the door closed and locked by both bolts, it may be instantly opened by al movement of the swing bar 22 in either direction to an extent sufilcient to remove the outer` ends of the bolts from their keepers. As the parts aredesigned, the extent of movement required by the swing oar is comparatively slight.l I .locked on a movement or" the swing bar inv either direction because a rotation of the cam in either direction out of the horizontal will move both crosspiece 18a and` crosspiece 18A to spread the crosspieces apart; that is, the upper crosspiece,

18A will be moved upwardagainst the Vspring 2,0 therebelowto freethe lower belh'and the lower crosspiece 18oJp will bemoved downward against 1 the spring 2,0 thereabove to reeut'he upper bolt..

Theswingbar 22 Vis sh'own,for, convenience of illustration, as extending horizontally when in normal position, that is, with the cam 21 allowing thesprings 20 ,toKV extend bothvboltsto locking;

position. Preferably, however, suchswingbar The door is un-` normally is inclined somewhat from the horizontal. Tests have shown that about a 30 droop of the portions 22a and 22h is'ideal. Then, body pressure against the swing bar, as from a mass of people crowding against the inside of the door, will in and of itself force the swing bar to a greater downward inclination toward the door sufficient to release both bolts. Also, the public has become somewhat educated toa swing bar forming part of an emergency door release which normally has somewhat of a droop, and the tenden'cy in most cases will be to bear down on the swing bar. As already pointed out, a movement of the swing bar in either direction releases both bolts; and this is true whatever be the normal disposition o f the swing bar. Should a person at the doorseeking emergency exit so lose his head asV enter a cinema theater without payingv for his,

admittance, is moved lrelative to its keeper; Such a movement of either bolt is not transmitted to the other bolt; the moved bolt merely causing itscrosspiece 18a or 18A to separate somewhat from the cam 21. s v

There has herein been described -one specific embodiment of the invention, but it will be understood that the same is susceptible kor" various modications within the spirit of.V the invention and the scope of the appended claim, which claim is to be interpreted as broadly asis consistent with the prior art. i

What is claimed is: y Y

In a mechanism of the class described, a casing, sleeve extensions projecting from said casing,

tubular locking bolts slidably rmounted in said 'u 

